President Clinton January 5, 1997

The budget extends the Administration's commitment to cut crime, curb the scourge of illegal drugs, and secure the Nation's borders.

With overall crime dropping, the budget proposes to make further progress while targeting a remaining area of concern-juvenile crime and violence. In addition, the budget continues the President's progress toward putting 100,000 more police on the street, while increasing State grants for prison construction and for preventing violence against women. While crime remains mainly a State and local responsibility, the success of the Brady bill in preventing over 100,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers from obtaining guns shows the Federal Government also has an important role to play.

The budget renews the Administration's efforts to fight drug abuse, particularly by focusing on youth prevention programs to reverse the recent trends of softening attitudes towards drugs and increased drug use by youth. It also continues efforts to stress treatment and prevention, domestic law enforcement, international programs, and interdiction. It would increase funds for the innovative Drug Courts initiative, for drug testing, for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program, for targeted interdiction efforts along the Nation's Southern border, and for disrupting the drug industry and its leadership overseas. The budget proposes to increase spending for these purposes by over $800 million in 1998, and by more than $6 billion between 1997 and 2002.

Finally, the budget strengthens the Administration's aggressive efforts to control illegal immigration by targeting resources to stop those who want to enter the United States illegally, detain and quickly remove those who slipped by, and make it harder for illegal immigrants to get jobs. It proposes to strengthen border enforcement in the South and West, to continue Port Courts to expedite removals, and to expand efforts to verify the employment eligibility of newly hired

non-citizens.

Fighting Crime

The Administration's efforts to work with communities and local police forces are paying off. Serious and violent crime dropped for the fifth year in a row in 1996, marking the longest period of decline in 25 years.

But, while overall crime rates are dropping, young people are increasingly the perpetrators and victims of some of society's most violent crimes. As a result, the Administration's crime-fighting agenda includes a major focus on reducing juvenile crime and violence. Its programs recognize that youth violence has to be addressed in the home, on the street, and in the community.

The budget proposes $24.9 billion to control crime, an increase of $1.1 billion over 1997, as illustrated on Chart 5-1. Of the total, the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund (VCRTF) provides $5.5 billion toward programs authorized in the 1994 Crime Act, an increase of $817 million over 1997, as shown on Table 5-1. Federal spending, however, accounts for only 17 percent of all

law enforcement resources. Thus, the Administration proposes to continue empowering States and communities, which play the central role in controlling crime, particularly violent crime.

Community Policing: The cornerstone of the President's program to fight crime, particularly violent crime in our communities, is his plan to place 100,000 more police officers on the streets by 2000. Putting the idea of community policing into action, the program seeks to cut crime, violence, and disorder by applying proven, effective programs and strategies. By the end of 1997, the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) initiative will have funded about 64,000 additional police officers. For 1998, the budget proposes $1.4 billion to put nearly 17,000 more officers on the street in local communities.

In addition to funding new police officers, COPS enables local law enforcement agencies to buy sophisticated crime equipment and

hire support personnel. These purchases, in turn, allow communities to deploy more officers. To enhance State and local law enforcement recruitment, retention, and education, the budget proposes $20 million each for the Police Corps and for police scholarships, increasing the number of police officers with advanced education and training.

Juveniles: The budget proposes a $50 million increase to support more local community prevention programs such as mentoring, truancy prevention, and gang intervention. To prevent young people from becoming involved in the juvenile justice system, the budget expands programs that provide supervised afternoon and evening activities for youth. These programs include $63 million for community schools, supervision, and youth and youth services grants-an increase of $50 million over 1997.

Gangs: The President has worked hard to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of children, to crack down on violent teen

gangs, and to teach children that drugs are wrong, illegal, and dangerous. As gangs become an increasingly powerful and deadly force, the Administration is pursuing a coordinated national strategy to combat them. For example, the budget proposes $100 million for prosecutorial offices to hire more prosecutors and take other steps, $50 million for a new juvenile court initiative, and $75 million for a local youth crime intervention initiative. The budget also proposes programs specifically targeted to stem violence on the street and in public housing, including:

Safe Streets Task Forces: The budget proposes $93 million to continue the Safe Streets program, which blends the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other Federal law enforcement agencies with those of State and local po

lice departments to investigate street crime and violence.

• One Strike, You're Out: The President believes that public housing is a privilege, not a right, and residents who commit crime and peddle drugs should be immediately evicted. The budget provides $290 million to support anti-drug and anticrime activities in public housing, including enforcement of the President's One Strike, You're Out initiative.

Violent Offenders: The Administration seeks to ensure that convicted violent offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences behind bars. To reach this goal, the budget proposes $710 million in State grants to build new prisons and jail cells under two programs-the Violent Offender Incarceration and the Truth in Sentencing Programs. Nation

wide, the prison population is growing by over 1,700 inmates a week, and will likely grow faster as tougher sentencing laws and practices that these grant programs require are implemented. The 1998 funding level finances about 9,500 new prison beds. It includes $150 million to reimburse States for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens and $35 million to improve State and local correctional facilities that hold Federal prisoners.

Crime Prevention: The President's Crime Prevention Council, which the Vice President chairs, seeks to coordinate Federal approaches to preventing crime. It helps communities get information about crime prevention programs, develops strategies for integrating programs and simplifying grants, publishes a catalog of prevention programs, and provides grants to communities for youth crime prevention programs.

Violence Against Women: The Administration recognizes that violence against women is a growing problem. To combat gender-based crime, the budget proposes $381 million-the full authorized level and an increase of $123 million over 1997. Programs in this category include grants to encourage mandatory arrest policies and to encourage coordination among law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and victims assistance organizations. Academic studies show that mandatory arrest policies often break the cycle of violence and reduce subsequent incidents of domestic violence. The expansion of these programs will enable States to enhance their efforts to respond to violent crimes committed against women, and to further expand access to previously under-served Indian and other minority populations.

State Prison Drug Testing: The budget proposes $63 million for this program, a $33 million increase over 1997. The funding would allow States to increase the number of residential substance abuse programs and treat about 23,000 prisoners. Experts generally agree that drug treatment programs aimed at prisoners are among the most cost-effective programs available in the fight against crime. In 1997, the President proposed and Congress agreed to require States to test prisoners and parolees as a condition for receiving State prison grants.

Counter-terrorism: While acts of domestic terrorism have been isolated incidents, the Administration has sought more Federal resources to ensure the safety and security of the Government and public from these violent, illegal acts. The President sought additional resources last year to fight terrorism, and Congress overwhelmingly agreed, providing $1.1 billion in new counter-terrorism funds. The budget would continue these programs.

Methamphetamine: Methamphetamine is quickly becoming the growth drug of the 1990s. Also known on the street as "crank," "ice," and "speed," methamphetamine is a dangerous stimulant that generates the same addiction cycle and psychological trauma associated with crack cocaine. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) trains its agents, as well as State and local law enforcement agencies, to seize clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. Since 1994, the DEA has devoted almost 10 percent more work hours to methamphetamine investigations. The budget proposes to increase funding by $11 million to continue DEA's anti-methamphetamine efforts.

Digital Telephony: The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ensures that law enforcement agencies can conduct. court-authorized wiretaps as the Nation converts from analog to digital communications technology. With $100 million available in 1997 to help develop the technology changes to provide this capability, the President proposes another $100 million in 1998 to continue the effort.

Combating Drug Abuse and Drug-Related Crime

Drug abuse and drug-related crime cost our society an estimated $67 billion a year1 and destroy the lives and futures of our most precious resource-our children. Illicit drug trafficking breeds crime, violence, and corruption across the globe, drug use facilitates the spread of AIDS and other deadly diseases, and addiction erodes the user's dignity and productivity. The effects of drug use and drug-related crime are felt acutely by all

1"Substance Abuse: The Nation's Number One Health Problem," Key Indicators for Policy, Institute for Health Policy, Brandeis University (1993).

Americans, transcending economic, geographic, and other boundaries.

The budget proposes $16.0 billion for antidrug abuse programs, a five-percent increase over 1997. It builds on earlier initiatives by renewing the emphasis on drug treatment and prevention, especially for children and adolescents; domestic law enforcement; international programs; and interdiction. (For summary information, see Table 5-2.)

In particular, the budget proposes a coordinated, multi-agency approach to combating all types of substance abuse among youthincluding tobacco and alcohol-with a prehensive prevention initiative that focuses, in particular, on State-level data documenting trends in drug use. This comprehensive approach, consistent with the President's National Drug Control Strategy, comes in response to national surveys showing a dramatic rise in substance abuse among adolescents. Community-Based Prevention: The Administration is committed to reversing the trend of increased drug use by our youth, and it proposes $2.2 billion for drug prevention programs, 15 percent more than in 1997. After significant and consistent declines through the 1980s, teenage drug use is rising and antidrug attitudes have softened-due in part to drug glamorization in the popular culture and the recent debate concerning drug legalization. In light of the recent "medicinal marijuana" initiatives adopted in California and Arizona, the Administration believes it is more important than ever to continue sending a single "no use" message and to focus on keeping America's youth drug free.

• National Media Awareness Campaign: The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will develop a media campaign— to include public service announcements, targeted at youth and their parents, on the consequences of drug use and the use of alcohol and tobacco. ONDCP will finance the campaign from the $175 million in discretionary funds that the budget proposes for ONDCP's Director to combat emerging drug abuse threats.

The Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Program: The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program is the Federal Government's largest effort to inoculate children against drug abuse and ensure that schools are safe and disciplined learning environments. The program supports drug and violence prevention efforts in 97 percent of all school districts through educational activities, teacher training, curriculum development, peer counseling, security services, and other activities. The budget proposes to spend $620 million for this program, 12 percent more than in 1997, and to encourage States to adopt models of proven effectiveness.

Drug Intervention: The budget proposes $3.3 billion to treat drug abuse, seven percent more than in 1997. The Administration seeks to address drug abuse where the battle is toughest in the streets, in jails, and in urban and rural drug markets. A priority is treating chronic, hard-core drug users; they consume a disproportionate amount of illicit drugs and impose a disproportionate share of drug-related costs on society.